Clemson Beats Temple 72-58 in Opening Round of Charleston Classic

2013-11-22T05:16:09Z2014-05-31T04:06:01Z

CHARLESTON, SC (AP) - -

Clemson rallied from a 12-point deficit Thursday to defeat Temple 72-58 in the opening round of the Charleston Classic. With the win, the Tigers improved to 4-0 overall and the Owls fell to 1-3. Clemson will take on Davidson in Friday's nightcap, a 9:30 p.m. start from TD Arena.

K.J. McDaniels and Landry Nnoko led the way for the Tigers on Thursday. McDaniels posted 20 points for the third time in four games, while adding eight rebounds and seven blocks. Nnoko had his first career double-double, going for 10 points and 15 rebounds in a career-high 34 minutes of action. Jordan Roper (14) and Rod Hall (13) added double figures for Brad Brownell's team. Temple was led offensively by Will Cummings (22) and Quenton DeCosey (15).

The Tigers shot 45 percent for the game, including a 52 percent mark in the second half. Clemson turned the rebound margin on Temple as well. The Tigers were -4 at halftime, but +13 in the second half on the boards. Clemson held Temple to 30 percent shooting Thursday.

Roper came in and provided a spark instantly for the Tigers. He made back-to-back buckets, the last of which was a three to push Clemson's lead to 10-7. Moments later, Roper collected a steal and threw a no-look pass ahead on a fast break to Jaron Blossomgame for an easy dunk.

The teams exchanged the lead multiple times throughout most of the first half until DeCosey buried a three in transition to put the Owls up 21-18 with 7:27 to play. His shot was in the midst of a 17-4 run as Temple found itself with a double-digit lead at 30-20 with five minutes to play in the half. DeCosey was the spark during the stretch, scoring nine of the Owls' points.

Clemson scored the next six points to prompt a Fran Dunphy timeout with 1:40 to play. McDaniels' third block that sent the ball into the stands sparked the run. Hall ended the half by cutting the deficit to three at 34-31 when he weaved through the lane off a missed free throw by Temple.

The Tigers wasted little time in taking the lead back in the second half, as McDaniels drove baseline for an emphatic slam to make it 39-38 in favor of Clemson. The lead grew to five, but Temple responded again and went back in front 44-43 on a deep wing three by Will Cummings.

For the second straight game, Ibrahim Djambo buried a crucial three. The Mali native took a pass from Hall in the corner with the shot clock expiring to put the Tigers up 56-51 with under six to play. Hall followed at the 4:35 mark with a three-point play and again 42 seconds later and suddenly Clemson had a 62-55 lead. Roper provided the dagger on another Hall assist when late in the shot clock he nailed a left wing trifecta to give the Tigers an 11-point cushion.

Friday's game will be televised by ESPNU.

UMass 96 Nebraska 90

Derrick Gordon had 20 points to lead five Massachusetts players in double figures and the Minutemen held on in the final minute to open the Charleston Classic with a 96-90 victory over Nebraska on Thursday.

Gordon scored 12 of his points in the second half as Massachusetts built a 13-point lead with just under 10 minutes to play. The Cornhuskers (3-1) rallied down the stretch, closing to 89-87 with 1:39 left on Tai Webster's foul shots.

Nebraska was down 91-88 moments later, but Gordon stood firm on defense and drew a charging call on Deverell Biggs.

Texas Tech transfer Terran Pettaway led the Cornhuskers with a career-high 28 points.

The Minutemen started 4-0 for the third time in the past four seasons. They'll take on either No. 19 New Mexico or UAB in Friday's semifinals of the eight-team tournament.

Sampson Carter scored 16 points, Cady Lalanne 15, Maxie Esho 13 and Raphiael Puntey 12 for Massachusetts. Chaz Williams, the Minutemen's leading scorer this season, was bottled up most of the way by Nebraska. He managed just seven shots and finished with 10 points, 11 below his average coming in.

The Minutemen used strong runs at the start of each half to put Nebraska on its heels. UMass started the game on an 11-3 run and opened the second half with an 18-10 surge to lead 60-49. Each time, though, Nebraska got back in it.

Nebraska had started 3-0 for the second straight season under coach Tim Miles and looked to keep things going against undefeated Massachusetts. The Minutemen's wins included ACC foe Boston College and SEC opponent LSU.

Massachusetts was still ahead 32-24 when Nebraska bounced back behind Pettaway's outside shooting. He had a jumper and two 3-pointers to draw the Cornhuskers within 35-32. Pettaway's two foul shots a short time later put Nebraska back in front 37-36.

However, Lalanne's inside basket and Seth Berger's foul shots sent the Minutemen to the locker room ahead 42-39.

Pettaway, who sat out last season after transferring, had three 3-pointers and matched his previous career best of 17 points in the first half.

New Mexico 97 UAB 94 F/2OT

Cleveland Thomas hit a 3-pointer with 39.5 seconds left in the second overtime to give No. 20 New Mexico the lead for good in a wild 97-94 victory over UAB at the Charleston Classic on Thursday.

The Lobos (3-0) forced overtime on Kendall Williams' desperation 3 as time ran out to tie it 75-all. Then Alex Kirk hit a 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds left in the first overtime as New Mexico dug its way out of an 86-81 hole for another period.

The Blazers (3-1) weren't through after Thomas' long-range bucket put them down 95-92. Chad Frazier hit two foul shots to cut the lead a point. After Williams' turnover, Frazier drove the lane for what appeared to be a go-ahead basket.

But Frazier's shot missed and Obij Aget grabbed the ball with 18 seconds left and the Lobos held on. They'll play Massachusetts here on Friday.

Davidson 94 Georgia 82

De'Mon Brooks scored 21 points and Brian Sullivan 20 to end Davidson's winless start with a 94-82 victory over Georgia at the Charleston Classic on Thursday night.

The Wildcats (1-3) were off to their longest losing streak to start a season in four years and made sure to put away the Bulldogs (1-2) with a 13-4 run at the end of the opening period to take a 46-36 lead into the half. Georgia never got closer than 8 points the rest of the way as it dropped a second straight game after losing to rival Georgia Tech last Friday night.

Davidson has advanced to the past two NCAA tournaments as Southern Conference champion. Yet, it hadn't broken through for a win before now in a difficult early schedule.

The Wildcats will play either Clemson or Temple in Friday's semifinals.

Nemanja Djurisic had 19 points lead Georgia.

Brooks was 13 of 16 from the foul line and added a team-high eight rebounds. Sullivan had three of Davidson's eight 3-pointers.

Jordan Barham finished with a career high 18 points for the Wildcats, making seven of eight shots. Jack Gibbs was Davidson's fourth player in double figures with 13 points.

Djurisic had four of Georgia's five 3-pointers and tied with Juwan Parker for the team lead with six rebounds. Charles Mann, the Bulldogs top scorer this year, had 18 points, Kenny Gaines had 13 and Cameron Forte 10.

Davidson has plenty of good tournament memories in Charleston, winning four Southern Conference titles at the nearby North Charleston Coliseum in 2002 and three straight from 2007-09. Its time at the Charleston Classic at TD Arena is another matter. When the Wildcats played in this eight-team event in 2009, they lost all three games as part of the only 0-4 start in coach Bob McKillop's 25 years.

And even with Davidson ending its long association with the SoCon — it's off to the Atlantic 10 Conference next season — McKillop and the Wildcats put on stellar show against the Bulldogs of the Southeastern Conference.

Davidson went on a 13-4 run the final five minutes of the opening half to move in front 46-36. Sullivan, who had 18 points in the first half, got the run started with a 3-pointer before Barham had a layup and a foul shot. Sullivan had two foul shots and Barham a 3-pointer. Sullivan wrapped it up with two more from the foul line and the Wildcats were comfortably ahead.

Georgia shot 50 percent (14 of 28) in first half and out-rebounded Davidson 17 to 14. But they had nine turnovers that led to seven points by the Wildcats.